Mekong Express

Company Information

Mekong Express started operations in 2002 and has long been regarded as one of the leading and fastest-growing private bus operators in Cambodia.

Routes served by Mekong Express

Phnom Penh–Siem Reap

The major route operated by Mekong Express connects Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh, with Siem Reap, the gateway to the famous ruins of Angkor Wat. There are four departures each day with buses leaving both cities between 07.30 and 12.30 each day, with the five hour trip costing USD14.

Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville

From the operator’s base in Phnom Penh you can visit destinations across the whole of Cambodia.

There are also four services each day heading from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, home to glorious beaches along Cambodia’s coastline. Buses depart from 09.30 each day and the journey lasts around four hours. Tickets are priced at USD14 per person in either direction.

You can also reach Siem Reap directly from Sihanoukville; there are two buses each day leaving the beach town to travel up the country (at 07.00 and 08.30). The journey will last over nine hours so you will arrive into Siem Reap for late afternoon and is priced at USD26.

Phnom Penh–Battambang

Battambang is a destination that is often overlooked by visitors but is well worth exploring a far more laid-back Cambodian city. There is one bus each day from Phnom Penh leaving at 13.30, scheduled to arrive around 19.00. From Battambang there is also one service each day that leaves at 07.30 (arriving back into the capital at 12.55). The journey will take between five and six hours in total and is priced at USD14.

International service: Vietnam

Mekong Express also offers international services, with departures heading across the border to Vietnam. You can reach Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, from either Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, although the journey will take twice as long from the latter city.

There are two departures from Phnom Penh every day, leaving at 06.30 and 15.30, and the journey lasts for five hours. There are also two buses from Hanoi to Phnom Penh with the same departure times and also costing USD17.

If you want to visit Hanoi directly from Siem Reap then there is one bus each morning at 07.30 that will take 10 hours in total and you are scheduled to arrive in Hanoi for 17.30. The return journey leaves Hanoi at 07.00 and tickets are priced a USD26 per person in either direction.

Pros

Mekong Express often boast quicker journey times than some other operators along these routes, however, this probably means that you will have shorter or fewer breaks and the drivers may be driving quicker than you would necessarily like.

The buses all offer Wi-Fi which is very useful on a long journey, especially if you need to contact someone or to work out how to reach your hotel when you arrive at the bus station.

Cons

The range of departure times offered by Mekong Express is not the best. There are no overnight buses available, which might be useful for the longer trips such as Siem Reap to Sihanoukville or international connections like Siem Reap to Hanoi.

If you are travelling a long distance on Mekong Express then you will lose a day of your holiday that could be used exploring this beautiful country.

Even on the most popular route between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the options are limited. There are no departures from either city after 12.30 which can be inconvenient if you are catching a flight the following morning as you will be required to pay for accommodation.

Note that there are no toilets on board any of these services, which is in fact a common case throughout Cambodia; although there are frequent breaks where you can use the bathroom or buy some extra snacks for the trip. The buses themselves are not always in the best condition and on some of the shorter trips you may find yourself on a minibus rather than a larger luxury or VIP bus, which is likely to be far more cramped and uncomfortable.

Keep in mind

As is the case with bus trips across Cambodia, delays are pretty common and often unannounced, so it is always best to allow plenty of flexibility into your schedule just in case. This is especially important if you have a flight to catch!

Travellers Reviews

Mekong Express services are competitively priced but are not always the most popular operator for those looking to travel across Cambodia. This is mainly due to the limited schedule on the routes which can often be inconvenient for travellers.

Also, the fact that you may be required to travel by minibus on some routes can put visitors off as these are usually far less comfortable than a larger bus.

Mekong Express Photos

Mekong Express Company Reviews

3.5

★

336
/
9,985

5 ★93

4 ★97

3 ★73

2 ★33

1 ★40

99.3% of 9,985 travelers were presumably happy with Mekong Express as they left good or no review

At 12Go our operators offer three types of service:

Cheap, Fast, Good - but you can usually pick only two of them!Cheap & Fast won’t be Good. (e.g. buses from/to Khao San Road, local buses or 3rd class trains)Cheap & Good won’t be Fast. (e.g. VIP trains in Thailand)Fast & Good won’t be Cheap. (e.g. private limousine services, or VIP24 buses vs Express buses)

Make your choice! Please remember that while we are closely monitoring the services, we are still an agency marketplace. That means we focus on ticketing services and route availability & coverage rather than on the factual seat reclining angle you will get on the bus today.

BramNov 18, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★☆☆☆☆

We had an e-visa, the touring guy was trying to make some extra money with some scam he did. Told us we where the only one on the bus with an e-visa. He tried to scare us with al kinds of story's. Do not buy it! E-visa worked fine no extra paymend at border. Plus the guy was unfriendly and took pictures of me and my girlfriend without asking.

GeorgeNov 17, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★★

Great service Prompt Great comfortable buses clean well looked after

RonelNov 14, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

Air conditioning is bad.

YukinoNov 11, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Better if they have toilet inside the bus.

JorgeNov 10, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

The trip itself was good, there is a 30 minutes stops in the middle. But the bis left 1 hour later thst from the time in the ticket

People with Passports from ASEAN nations paid for 3 USD to get through the border through Ho Chi Minh City. Other passengers were help up quite longer because of visa issues and paid a hefty amount of USD. It's really shady in this area here. Guide is confusing foreigners a lot, is rude, and even forgot my passport when we were on Immigration line! Just keep on reminding her every time coz she seems like she's all over the place. It almost feels like they are conniving with the people from Immigration. :/
Bus feels old and "lofty" smells abound. Everything just hurts the eyes. Bus quality is so-so.
It's a far cry from how Giant Ibis Transport runs their transportation service. But you get what you pay for.

RudyNov 3, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

Why do we ask to pay 2 dollars while we can process the visa by ourselves

BrianNov 3, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

The online ticket says to be at the bus station an hour before departure. I did. No one was there until 25 minutes later. The bus did not arrive until 15 minutes before departure and left 5 minutes late.
So why waste everyone's time by this silly advice. Giant ibis say arrive 20 minutes before and leave on time.
The sugary crackers are horrible and not fit for a snack. Giant ibis provide fresh croissants.
The passport arrangements are poorly managed. I was forgotten twice as my passport was checked last.
On the plus side, the air conditioning was good.

WisnuOct 31, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

The bus is to old n the air con not to cool, but not to bad for the cheaper bus, it still worth. Even old but the bus is clean n the driver very friendly

RobertOct 27, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Not the VIP bus expected,9 seats but a 32 seat bus with poor aircon broken arm rests and we had to turn back twice when the driver missed pickups. One and a half hours late.

BeatriceOct 27, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Took long time but the visa service was great

MarieOct 19, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

The bus broke down

MichaelOct 19, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Bus ride okay bus seat a bit small for westerners. Visa application was dealt with but the bus guide and got us through smoothly.

SophieOct 14, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★★

Service was on time. Very comfortable seats. Complimentary water and snacks. Great experience.

RaphaelOct 11, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

poor comunication / dirty bus

SamanthaOct 9, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

The ride was pleasant and uneventful. We had some issues with our guide not accepting our currency because it was “too old” or had a very small tear in it, but she worked with us to find an atm before the boarder to get new bills. We also ended up overpaying because we didn’t have exact change and she didn’t give our change back to us.

AngelaOct 8, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

A very pleasant journey excellent driver & staff. Unfortunately the roads were very busy due to holiday weekend therefore the journey too was longer.
Thank you
The Irish girls

GrahamOct 2, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Good service! The bus was comfortable and the driver ensured there were adequate rest stops.

JonessaOct 1, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

There was a leak on top on the aircon above me and we had too many stops that i thought wasn’t necessary.

AdrianusSep 28, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Old bus and they didn't speak English at all.
In Cambodia we had finally Wi-Fi.
Before the border was a lady who spoke English
At the border they helped us with the Visa procedure.
For the price it is acceptable

HomerSep 28, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Satisfied with the travel itself, it was safe and I appreciate the free crackers and water. :) The bus though is a bit old and the AC is not as cold (good think we were only few in the bus). Additionally, we weren’t given clear instructions on what to do and where to go while we were in the border to VN. We were just told to wait while our passports were taken from us.

Heli-mariaSep 26, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Everything went smoothly, but the bus was old and seats were uncomfortable for seven hours ride.

SveaSep 25, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

The bus was ok. They gave us breakfast and a bottle of water. The border crossing was smooth. However, they charged us USD 5 for processing our passports (even if we're ph passport holders and should be visa free) because it was our first time crossing the border, as the staff said.

JuliaSep 19, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

We arrived almost 2 hours later than expected..

ChristianSep 16, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

Much too cold in the bus due to AC.

KirstinSep 11, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Cramped and not very comfortable but got me from point A to point B

ChrisSep 3, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

Reserved three seats next to each other. Came the day before departure to the office to pick up tickets. Was told to come again the following day latest 6:30 am. Was there 6:15, waited 20 minutes to get three seats across the whole bus, myself I was placed behind the driver with no space for my legs. After entering the bus everyone in the bus was reseated, chaotic procedure. Ended up with one friend next to me, the other one next to the toilette. Two girls coming to the office to buy their tickets the day of departure sat together since first entering the bus.
Why on earth then assign seats to people in the first place?
Also, people already having an E-Visa when crossing the border were told to pay an extra 1 $.
No WiFi on the bus.
Border procedure chaotic and no communication to passengers. Waited 1,5 h, saw our guide once. Then a guy we never saw before handed back our passports and rushed us through the customs. After more than 2 hours we we're finally on the other side and had a twenty minute lunch break at 11:10 am.
One additional star because we did not have to pay the dollar, not that I would have after this experience, actual drive was okay and the connecting bus to Siem Reap waited for us.
Will never book again.

TiffanySep 3, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★★

trip was very smooth. the company took care of getting the visa's for the foreigners, the travel time was as indicated, and the staff was very helpful and friendly. even dropped me off as close as possible to my hotel. I would recommend for an easy travel from HCMC to PP

ShainAug 25, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Bus ride was fine but the women that work at the Ho Chi Min office are very disorganized and rude. I almost missed my connecting bus because of their error.

KressleAug 23, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

We did not arrive and depart on time.

LibertyAug 20, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

The buses have poor air conditioning system which makes the trip uneasy. In addition to this, the restaurants for stop over are not clean and accommodating.

PhanJul 27, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Good service and car

LucyJul 24, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★☆☆☆

Bus broke down and staff were unhelpful/rude.

AlokJul 22, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

We travelled from Phnom to Ho Chin Minh on July 21, 2018.
The start was punctual and on time . Reached city almost an hour before the schedule time. However, one had just only problem regarding the seats. The seats are too crampy and took us a while to figure out some good seating position.
Overall journey was good. Border crossing was breeze.

BertJul 21, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★★★

Hotel pick up was on time. We travelled in a VIP-van, seat 2a and b (recommended) which had enough leg room. On the way we had one stopover. Arrival was later than scheduled. Altogether very happy.

FionnualaJul 21, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★☆☆

Breakfast was a nice touch but the bus was two hours later than expected time of arrival. Our passports were taken off us at the border and the whole process was very easy.

AnneJul 17, 2018

van Regional, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Good service and comfy bus. Arrived a bit late though due to Road works on route. Nice rest stop at a clean cafe

AnneJul 11, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★☆

Great trip through interesting scenery. Very good value for money as the ticket included a breakfast box and water. Bus also had WI-FI which was a bonus

JanisJul 6, 2018

bus Express, Mekong Express

★★★★★

Picked up at the hotel. Left on time and arrived hours before ticket said. Two comfort stops and a very comfortable coach.
Thoroughly recommend Mekong express and 12go.asia!